Removable handgun slide mount

ABSTRACT

Removable handgun slide mounts are presented including: a mounting plate; a dovetail mounting adapter sized to slidingly couple with a rear open sight dovetail slot of a handgun slide and configured to removably coupled with the mounting plate; and a rear slide mounting adapter sized to slidingly couple with a rear opening of the handgun slide and configured to removably couple with the mounting plate. In some embodiments, the mounting plate includes: at least two locating posts for locating a rear sight; at least one threaded hole for receiving a threaded screw to couple the rear sight with the mounting plate; at least one countersunk hole for securing the mounting plate with the dovetail mounting adapter; and at least one additional countersunk hole for securing the mounting plate with the rear slide mounting adapter.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invent relates generally to removable handgun slide mountsthat provide a solid and fast attachment mount that requires nopermanent modification of the firearm.

BACKGROUND

Target shooters, competition shooters, and hunters alike have the needfor a precision optic or sighting system for their sidearm. Traditionalopen sights are simply not accurate or precise enough at distance ascompared with rifle style scopes and optics. The need for a red dot orsmall precision optic on a handgun has been needed for some time.However, unmodified handguns generally lack a solid permanent mountwhich keeps the red dot, laser, or optic locked with a slide of thesemi-automatic handgun.

Common machining methods may be used to mill an area out of the slide tocreate a mounting surface on the slide of the handgun for a particularrear red dot optic sight as illustrated in FIG. 1, which is a prior artillustrative representation of unmodified handgun slide 100 and modifiedhandgun slide 110. As illustrated, unmodified handgun slide 100 mayinclude rear open sight dovetail slot 102 where a rear sight may bemounted. Further illustrated is modified handgun slide 100 having amilled surface 112 and one or more threaded holes 114 for mounting acustom rear sight such as a rear optic sight. This style of mounting, bycustomizing the firearm to accommodate a rear sight optic while stable,permanently modifies the firearm for a single type and style of optic.Since the base plates for a rear sight optic may vary frommanufacturer-to-manufacturer, mounting provisions to mount the baseplates are necessarily different. As such, once a particular handgunslide has been modified to accept one style of rear sight optic, thehandgun slide may not be easily modified to fit another brand of rearsight optic. Furthermore, a modified handgun sight cannot be“un-machined” if the user wishes to revert back to iron or open sightsas originally configured.

In addition, current rear sight attachment methods for a red dot opticor other optical aiming device include either utilizing a pre-cut slideto fit a specific optic or by utilizing a single dove tail attachmentmethod with two single screws threaded into the rear open sight dovetailslot. With respect to the latter, a single dovetail mounting method maynot be secure as that method may allow the optic to move or detach fromthe handgun slide. While a single dovetail attachment method provides aremovable mount and does not require machining of the handgun slide, themethod, nevertheless, may allow the red dot or accurate sighting deviceto drift front to rear thus losing its exact point of aim.

As such, removable handgun slide mounts are presented herein.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of some embodiments of theinvention in order to provide a basic understanding of the invention.This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is notintended to identify key/critical elements of the invention or todelineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to presentsome embodiments of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented below.

As such removable handgun slide mounts are presented including: amounting plate; a dovetail mounting adapter sized to slidingly couplewith a rear open sight dovetail slot of a handgun slide and configuredto removably coupled with the mounting plate; and a rear slide mountingadapter sized to slidingly couple with a rear opening of the handgunslide and configured to removably couple with the mounting plate. Insome embodiments, the mounting plate includes: at least two locatingposts for locating a rear sight; at least one threaded hole forreceiving a threaded screw to couple the rear sight with the mountingplate; at least one countersunk hole for securing the mounting platewith the dovetail mounting adapter; and at least one additionalcountersunk hole for securing the mounting plate with the rear slidemounting adapter. In some embodiments, the dovetail mounting adapterfurther includes: at least one threaded hole for receiving a screw tosecure the mounting plate. In some embodiments, the rear slide mountingadapter further includes: at least one threaded hole for receiving ascrew to secure the mounting plate. In some embodiments, the mountingplate further includes: a non-marring protective layer located along abottom surface of the mounting plate.

In other embodiments, handguns having removable handgun slide mounts arepresented including: a handgun slide installed on the handgun; amounting plate positioned along a rear end of the handgun slide; adovetail mounting adapter slidingly coupled with a rear open sightdovetail slot of the handgun slide and removably coupled with themounting plate; and a rear slide mounting adapter slidingly coupled witha rear opening of the handgun slide and removably coupled with themounting plate.

In other embodiments, methods of utilizing a removable handgun slidemount are presented, the methods including: providing a handgun having ahandgun slide; providing the removable handgun slide mount, where theremovable handgun slide includes, a mounting plate, a dovetail mountingadapter sized to slidingly couple with a rear open sight dovetail slotof the handgun slide and configured to removably coupled with themounting plate, and a rear slide mounting adapter sized to slidinglycouple with a rear opening of the handgun slide and configured toremovably couple with the mounting plate; and mounting the removablehandgun slide mount on the handgun slide. In some embodiments, mountingfurther includes: sliding the dovetail mounting adapter into the rearopen sight dovetail slot of the handgun slide; sliding the rear slidemounting adapter into the rear opening of the handgun slide; locatingthe mounting plate along a top surface of the handgun slide; securingthe mounting plate with the dovetail mounting adapter; and securing themounting plate with the rear slide mounting adapter. In someembodiments, methods further include: providing a rear sight; locatingthe rear sight on the mounting plate, where the mounting plate furtherincludes at least two locating posts for locating the rear sight; andsecuring the rear sight with the mounting plate, where the mountingplate further includes at least one threaded hole for receiving athreaded screw to couple the rear sight with the mounting plate.

The features and advantages described in the specification are not allinclusive and, in particular, many additional features and advantageswill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of thedrawings, specification, and claims. Moreover, it should be noted thatthe language used in the specification has been principally selected forreadability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selectedto delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a prior art illustrative representation of an unmodifiedhandgun slide and a modified handgun slide;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative exploded assembly representation of aremovable handgun slide mount in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative exploded representation of a removable handgunslide mount in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative exploded representation of an installedremovable handgun slide mount and a rear sight in accordance withembodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is an illustrative representation of an installed removablehandgun slide mount and an installed rear sight in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference toa few embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Itwill be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the presentinvention may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structureshave not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscurethe present invention.

Embodiments provided herein relate to an add-on optics or visual aimingdevice mount, which may be installed or attached to a top surface of ahandgun slide. Removable handgun slide mount embodiments may attach viamachined provisions originally present on a handgun slide via the rearremovable striker cover, which is found on the back of most modernsemi-automatic firearms.

Embodiments provide a stable removable mounting platform for an optic orlaser or aiming device to be affixed to the slide in a manner which doesnot permanently modify the firearm, does not require any machining, andinstalls with simple tools.

Embodiments additionally incorporate a set of backup sights should theprimary optic fail due to physical damage or battery failure. In theevent of failure, the optic can simply be removed from the slide toprovide simple open-sight optics for aiming the handgun.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative exploded assembly representation 200 of aremovable handgun slide mount in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. The illustrative representation is provided forcontext in application of embodiments disclosed herein. As illustrated,embodiments may be useful for non-destructively modifying handgun slide204 of handgun 202. Embodiments provide at least three key elementsnamely: mounting plate 210, dovetail mounting adapter 212, and rearslide mounting adapter 214. These elements function cooperatively toprovide a secure and stable mounting platform for rear optic sight 220.These elements will be discussed in further detail below.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative exploded representation 300 of a removablehandgun slide mount in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention. As illustrated, embodiments may be installed on handgun slide302 utilizing rear open sight dovetail slot 304 and rear opening 306.The dotted lines are presented for clarity in understanding mountinglocations. Illustrated is mounting plate 310. In embodiments, mountingplate 310 may include two or more locating posts 312. In the illustratedrepresentation, four locating posts are utilized however, the number andlocation of locating posts may be selected and configured based onmanufacturer's specification for rear sight applications. Mounting plate310 may further include one or more countersunk holes 314 for securingmounting plate 310 with the dovetail mounting adapter 330. Furtherillustrated is an additional countersunk hole 316 for securing mountingplate 310 with rear slide mounting adapter 340. In addition, mountingplate 310 may further include one or more threaded holes 318 forreceiving a threaded screw to couple the rear sight with the mountingplate. As above, threaded holes may be selected and configured based onmanufacturer's specification for rear sight applications. In someembodiments, a non-marring protective layer 320 located along a bottomsurface of the mounting plate may be applied. In some embodiments, thenon-marring protective layer is a polymeric film. In other embodiments,the non-marring protective layer further provides addition friction. Itmay be appreciated that mounting plate embodiments may be manufacturedfrom any suitably stable materials such as a metal material, a polymericmaterial, a metal impregnated polymeric material, and a compositematerial without limitation.

Further illustrated is dovetail mounting adapter 330 sized to slidinglycouple with rear open sight dovetail slot 304 of handgun slide 302 andconfigured to removably coupled with mounting plate 310. As may be seen,rear open sight dovetail slot 304 may include one or more threaded holes332 for receiving a screw to secure mounting plate 310. It may beappreciated that dovetail mounting adapter embodiments may bemanufactured from any suitably stable materials such as a metalmaterial, a polymeric material, a metal impregnated polymeric material,and a composite material without limitation. Still further illustratedis rear slide mounting adapter 340 sized to slidingly couple with rearopening 306 of handgun slide 302 and configured to removably couple withmounting plate 310. As may be seen, rear opening 306 may includethreaded hole 342 for receiving a screw to secure mounting plate 310.Rear slide mounting adapter 340 may be customized for a specific modelof handgun. Rear slide mounting adapter 340 may be a simple drop-in partand may replace the original striker plate cover with a precise, tightfitting machined part that allows the mounting plate 310 to tighten tothe hole in the rear opening 306. Rear slide mounting adapter 340 may bemachined flush with the physical height of the handgun slide, so wheninstalled, the mounting plate adapter may be very tight to the topsurface of the handgun slide.

As above, it may be appreciated that dovetail mounting adapterembodiments may be manufactured from any suitably stable materials suchas a metal material, a polymeric material, a metal impregnated polymericmaterial, and a composite material without limitation.

With reference to FIG. 3, in utilizing embodiments provided herein,methods may include at least the following steps:

providing a handgun having handgun slide 302;

sliding dovetail mounting adapter 330 into rear open sight dovetail slot304 of handgun slide 310;

sliding rear slide mounting adapter 340 into rear opening 306 of handgunslide 310;

locating mounting plate 310 along a top surface of handgun slides 310;

securing mounting plate 310 with dovetail mounting adapter 330; and

securing mounting plate 310 with rear slide mounting adapter 340.

FIG. 4 is an illustrative exploded representation 400 of installedremovable handgun slide mount 410 and rear sight 420 in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. It may be seen that removablehandgun slide mount 410 may be secured via screws 412 that couplesmounting plate with dovetail mounting plate adapter embodiments and viascrew 414 that couples mounting plate with rear slide mounting adapter.Further illustrated is rear optic sight 420 that may include one or morecountersunk holes 422 for securing with mounting plate 410.

With reference to FIG. 4, in utilizing embodiments provided herein,methods may include at least the following steps:

providing rear sight 420;

locating rear sight 420 on mounting plate 410 along locating posts 416;and

securing rear sight 420 with mounting plate 410.

Although a generic rear optic sight is illustrated, mounting plateembodiments may be configured to receive a variety of rear sights andmay, in addition, be configured to receive other handgun accessoriessuch as, for example and without limitation, laser pointers, lasersights, rails, attachment elements, etc.

FIG. 5 is an illustrative representation 500 of an installed removablehandgun slide mount 502 and an installed rear sight 504 in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. As may be seen, rear sight504 may be secured with slide mount 502 with one or more screws 506.

It may be appreciated that embodiments may provide at least thefollowing features without limitation:

Shock resistance—Embodiments are secured in a manner so as not to beadversely affected by recoil;

Stability—Embodiments may be mechanically coupled to a firearm in a waythat provides a stable platform and an accurate base that resists bothvertical and horizontal motion;

Flexibility—Embodiments attach with existing rear dovetail slot machinedinto an original equipment manufactured handgun slide and provide twostable mounting locations with support no less than three locations;

Ease of Use—Embodiments may be installed and removed using simple handtools;

Configurability—Mounting plate embodiments may be configured to amanufacturer's specification and may be easily swapped to installanother type of optic onto the slide;

Multi-use—Embodiments provide a platform for other handgun accessoriessuch as miniature adjustable laser or pointing devices on the side ofthe scope mount or provide for multiple optical sights; and

Reliability—Embodiments provide a reliable platform that accommodatesadditional moving mass of mounted optics. Embodiment mass may be verylow, providing no negative resulting reliability issues from fast movingmass during unlocking and blow-back operation of the handgun.

The terms “certain embodiments”, “an embodiment”, “embodiment”,“embodiments”, “the embodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or moreembodiments”, “some embodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean one or more(but not all) embodiments unless expressly specified otherwise. Theterms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereof mean“including but not limited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise.The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of theitems are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. Theterms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments,there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents, which fall withinthe scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are manyalternative ways of implementing the methods and apparatuses of thepresent invention. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated, any methodembodiments described herein are not constrained to a particular orderor sequence. Further, the Abstract is provided herein for convenienceand should not be employed to construe or limit the overall invention,which is expressed in the claims. It is therefore intended that thefollowing appended claims be interpreted as including all suchalterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the truespirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A removable handgun slide mount comprising: amounting plate; a dovetail mounting adapter sized to slidingly couplewith a rear open sight dovetail slot of a handgun slide and configuredto removably coupled with the mounting plate; and a rear slide mountingadapter sized to slidingly couple with a rear opening of the handgunslide and configured to removably couple with the mounting plate.
 2. Theremovable handgun slide mount of claim 1, wherein the mounting platecomprises: at least two locating posts for locating a rear sight; atleast one threaded hole for receiving a threaded screw to couple therear sight with the mounting plate; at least one countersunk hole forsecuring the mounting plate with the dovetail mounting adapter; and atleast one additional countersunk hole for securing the mounting platewith the rear slide mounting adapter.
 3. The removable handgun slidemount of claim 1, wherein the dovetail mounting adapter furthercomprises: at least one threaded hole for receiving a screw to securethe mounting plate.
 4. The removable handgun slide mount of claim 1,wherein the rear slide mounting adapter further comprises: at least onethreaded hole for receiving a screw to secure the mounting plate.
 5. Theremovable handgun slide mount of claim 1, wherein the mounting platefurther comprises: a non-marring protective layer located along a bottomsurface of the mounting plate.
 6. A handgun having a removable handgunslide mount comprising: a handgun slide installed on the handgun; amounting plate positioned along a rear end of the handgun slide; adovetail mounting adapter slidingly coupled with a rear open sightdovetail slot of the handgun slide and removably coupled with themounting plate; and a rear slide mounting adapter slidingly coupled witha rear opening of the handgun slide and removably coupled with themounting plate.
 7. The handgun of claim 6, further comprising: a rearsight coupled with the mounting plate.
 8. The handgun of claim 7,wherein the mounting plate comprises: at least two locating posts forlocating the rear sight; at least one threaded hole for receiving athreaded screw to couple the rear sight with the mounting plate; atleast one countersunk hole for securing the mounting plate with thedovetail mounting adapter; and at least one additional countersunk holefor securing the mounting plate with the rear slide mounting adapter. 9.The handgun of claim 6, wherein the dovetail mounting adapter furthercomprises: at least one threaded hole for receiving a screw to securethe mounting plate.
 10. The handgun of claim 6, wherein the rear slidemounting adapter further comprises: at least one threaded hole forreceiving a screw to secure the mounting plate.
 11. The handgun of claim6, wherein the mounting plate further comprises: a non-marringprotective layer located along a bottom surface of the mounting plate.12. A method of utilizing a removable handgun slide mount comprising:providing a handgun having a handgun slide; providing the removablehandgun slide mount, wherein the removable handgun slide includes, amounting plate, a dovetail mounting adapter sized to slidingly couplewith a rear open sight dovetail slot of the handgun slide and configuredto removably coupled with the mounting plate, and a rear slide mountingadapter sized to slidingly couple with a rear opening of the handgunslide and configured to removably couple with the mounting plate; andmounting the removable handgun slide mount on the handgun slide.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the mounting further comprises: sliding thedovetail mounting adapter into the rear open sight dovetail slot of thehandgun slide; sliding the rear slide mounting adapter into the rearopening of the handgun slide; locating the mounting plate along a topsurface of the handgun slide; securing the mounting plate with thedovetail mounting adapter; and securing the mounting plate with the rearslide mounting adapter.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the mountingplate further comprises: at least one countersunk hole for securing themounting plate with the dovetail mounting adapter wherein the dovetailmounting adapter includes at least one threaded hole for receiving afirst screw to secure the mounting plate; and at least one additionalcountersunk hole for securing the mounting plate with the rear slidemounting adapter, wherein the rear slide mounting adapter includes atleast one threaded hole for receiving a second screw to secure themounting plate.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:providing a rear sight; locating the rear sight on the mounting plate,wherein the mounting plate further includes at least two locating postsfor locating the rear sight; and securing the rear sight with themounting plate, wherein the mounting plate further includes at least onethreaded hole for receiving a threaded screw to couple the rear sightwith the mounting plate.